As a former semi-professional bike blogger and current gentleman wordsmith, I understand that people turn to this particular bullshit depository for a host of reasons, and very near the bottom of that list is in-depth product reviews, though I will continue to update you on how I’m getting along with The World’s Most Niche-iest* Shifter whether you like it or not:
*[That’s “Niche-iest” as in “extremely niche,” not “Of or relating to the philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche”–though I suppose it could also be The World’s Most Nietzsche-iest Shifter, I know nothing about him.]
So far in indexed mode with the LoNo OM-1 rear derailleur the performance has been exemplary, having been battle-tested on the notorious proving ground that is the post-gentrification New York City streetscape by a hardened urban cycling veteran, and since the initial setup, which was quite easy, I have not had to so much as touch a barrel adjuster:
By the way, “LoNo OM-1” sounds ironically high-tech given that all this stuff is supposed to be about a return to simplicity, but this is cycling, and unless you make components sound highly technological and borderline incomprehensible then nobody will want to use them. “Friction shifting?” No thanks. “LoNo detent-free multi-ratio transmission?” Yes, please!
But yes, the point of the OM-1 shifters is that it works perfectly with the OM-1 derailleur in indexed mode, whereas a Shimano indexed shifter is a “YMMV”-type thing. As I mentioned previously, while I did get Shimano shifters to work very well with an OM-1 derailleur on the Farbman, it did take a fair amount of fine-tuning at first. I wondered if maybe that was just because I was using older drivetrain components, but a couple days ago I gave the Farbster a brand new chain:
The installation of a smooth and grime-free chain required me to fine-tune the cable tension once again, and once again it did take a fair amount of trial and error to get things just right; basically, it’s a little tricky to get the cable tension so that it’s not too low on the low gears/large cogs (in which case it runs noisily) and not too high on the large gears/small cogs (in which case downshifting is recalcitrant).
So basically the OM-1 shifter is definitely better with the OM-1 derailleur, but the Shimano ones work well enough that if I hadn’t actually tried an OM-1 I wouldn’t have realized what I was missing and got along just fine, kind of like how I could see acceptably but then got a pair of reading glasses and was like, “Hey, this is even better!”
OK, AI, do your thing:
Am I really supposed to believe the same technology that created that image is also going to destroy humanity?
I guess we’ll find out.
Speaking of research, did you know track cyclists defy the laws of physics or something?
Well they don’t actually, but whatever:
They found that the apparent paradox is explained by a brief whole-body backward-then-forward movement before and during gate release, which transfers momentum to the bicycle. Riders shift their body mass backward, then rapidly forward, and slowing that forward body motion creates a powerful forward push on the bike. The results showed that this body-driven impulse dominates the first roughly 0.2 seconds, right before pedaling becomes the main source of acceleration.
This may sound cartoonish, but in fact it’s highly scientific. Indeed, researchers were able to observe this effect by placing a sumptuous avian repast in the middle of a desert road along with a sign reading “Free Bird Seed.” They then attempted to eat the hungry track cyclist:
This causes the track cyclist to flee, at which point you can observe the “whole-body backward-then-forward movement” here:
Researchers then went on to analyze the manner in which crash impact is distributed through the body:
It’s likely that based on these results the researchers will recommend the UCI adopt full-body accordion suits, though these should be worn vertically instead of horizontally as is currently the custom:
So in attempting to entice his prey with a meal and becoming an aerophone in the process, did the Coyote suffer “food justice?” No, silly, that’s not what this means. Food Justice is when the delivery app industry steals your bike lanes:
And yes, I realize that sounds deeply cynical. People depend on these apps to make a living and they deserve to be safe. At the same time, if you don’t deliver things for a living, it’s hard not to feel just a little bit resentful:
The idea of a bike network as I recall it was to make cyclists safer, which would in turn narrow the gender gap and encourage more people to ride in New York City–especially women, who historically don’t:
The gap between male and female bike riders is a concern for cities across the nation, but in New York this gap has narrowed every year since 2003, and female bike ridership is actually increasing at a faster rate than male ridership.
…
The risk of serious injury or death to commuter cyclists in New York City has dropped by 75 percent in the last decade. The fact that cycling has become safer over the last 10 years is indisputable, but we need to make more progress. Innovations like protected bike lanes are bringing even better safety results for everyone who bikes, walks or drives on our streets.
That was from 2011.
But instead the bike lanes became mini Major Deegan Expressways, and they’re full of men on electric motorcycles. Furthermore, the current urbanist view is that this should be official policy:
Bike lanes are now a permanent part of how New York feeds itself. The Streets Plan due this fall should recognize that reality plainly: the city must design, fund, and govern bike lanes as food, labor, and transportation infrastructure. The food is already moving through these lanes. The workforce is already using them as a workplace. Now the city needs a Streets Plan that treats both as essential.
I suppose this was inevitable, since in New York City everything must ultimately yield to commerce, that being what the city was founded upon after all. (The article is written in progressive doublespeak, but this is really about commerce.) And maybe the early 21st century notion of a bike network full of elegantly attired cosmopolitan woman was even a little naive and elitist:
Oh well. Ultimately the fate of the bike lanes belongs to who’s using them. I just wish they’d stop calling them bike lanes and come up with a new name for them–though we still say we “dial” our phones, so I guess I should just get used to it.